Blog Tour - A Most Parisian Murder

 

Review - 3.5 out of 5 stars:


I do love a good historical cosy crime, so when I saw A Most Parisian Murder by new (to me) author Millicent Banks, I leapt on the opportunity.


Our sleuth is Opal Laplume, a hat designer and maker who lives in London. When she travels to Paris, she finds herself involved in a set of mysterious circumstances, and naturally decides to investigate.


I enjoyed this book. It was great fun getting to know Opal. She isn’t always the quickest to connect things together, but this is her very first case, with no detective training. And she certainly does a better job than the police!


Opal is an interesting character, she’s a little naive and unsure of herself (not surprising with her upbringing and age), but easy to get along with. I liked her, and I feel that as she gains experience, she’ll gain confidence and really come into her own.


The setting was a very enjoyable one. Behind the scenes at the Casino de Paris (a theatre) is a fascinating place, full  of interesting characters. I got a real sense of them all having their own lives and motivations, even with some of them having very little page time.


The only tiny thing that slightly detracted was some of the use of language wasn’t to my taste. How do you whip someone with your eyelashes, for example? They tended to take me out of the story slightly, but I’m sure most readers won’t notice, or will enjoy the inventive use of language.


Overall, this was a strong start to a new series, with an intriguing mystery, an engaging main character, and a host of mysterious suspects!


I was given a copy of this book, my opinions are my own.



About the Book:


Feathers, diamonds, showgirls, oh la la… Paris is everything Opal Laplume could dream of. But she wasn’t expecting to be cast as the lead detective in a murder case…


Paris, 1930. The Honourable Opal Laplume has just started working as a seamstress in the most glamorous cabaret in Paris. The stage is set for a spectacular opening night, but tragedy strikes when the star of the show, Valentine Beaumanoir falls from her hotel balcony.


The police believe it’s an accident, but Opal isn’t convinced. Witnesses heard Valentine shout for help before she fell. But if she was pushed, how could the culprit have escaped when her room was locked from the inside? And who left a perfect white rose on her bedside table?


When a deadly note to another dancer is found, Opal ditches her threads and thimbles to take charge of the case. Stepping backstage, she finds everyone had a reason to want Valentine dead. The chorus girls were jealous of Valentine’s spot in the limelight. But did one of them want the lead role that badly? Before she fell, Valentine called out the name of her beau, costumier Christophe. Could the show-stopping murder have been a crime of passion?


But just as Opal thinks she’s on track to solve the mystery, the theatre is rocked by a murder on stage, where once again the killer vanishes into thin air. Opal soon realises a bigger plot is unfolding. Can she keep her composure and catch the cabaret killer? Or will it be her final curtain call?


Buy Links:  https://geni.us/B0DX7DM3HYsocial


Audible:


UK: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0F6DSVL3W/?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-447741&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_447741_rh_uk


US: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0F6DTH249/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-447741&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_447741_rh_us


Listen here: https://soundcloud.com/bookouture/a-most-parisian-murder-by-millicent-binks-narrated-by-antonia-beamish


Author Bio:


Millicent is a writer, former costume designer and burlesque performer from Suffolk. She now resides in North London with her husband and two cats, Queenie and Tarquin.


She has a BA (Hons) at Wimbledon College of Art in Costume Interpretation. Her writing credits include a column in the The London Evening Standard about her life as a burlesque starlet.  She wrote the cover story “Alter Shego's”  for The Sunday Times Magazine, in which she disguised herself as different women, took self-portraits, went out, introduced herself to random gentlemen and documented their reactions. This was optioned for TV by NBCUniversal.


Social Media:


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573866510514


X: https://x.com/millicentbinks/


Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/millicentbinks/


Bookouture email signup:  https://bookouture.com/subscribe/millicent-binks/


Blog Tour:


You can catch the rest of the blog tour here:




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